First of many-to-come floods hits Beach Road

In a scene sure to be repeated many times over the next few months, Beach Road was inundated by flood water caused by heavy rain May 6.

The early rainy season storm created standing water about 10cm deep on the roadway, not nearly as deep as it’s sure to be later this summer, but enough to cause havoc for traffic and business owners.

An omen of things to come? Beach Road was inundated by flood water caused by heavy rain May 6.

The damage stretched from the Dusit Curve to Walking Street, with the lower level of Central Festival Pattaya Beach becoming a wading pool. Some vendors suggested the flood might be a good occasion to convince tourists to ride banana boats on Beach Road, showing vendors never miss an occasion to make a few baht.

More seriously, however, one person suffered electrical burns after power lines dropped into water at Soi 5 and Beach Road.

This article was published in the Pattaya Mail newspaper on Friday May 16, 2014 (Vol. XXII No. 20).